MORTON GAME IS CALLED OFF
CARDIFF City’s pre-season friendly at Greenock Morton next week has been called off.
The Bluebirds’ first team were due to visit Cappielow Park on Tuesday, July 31, but the game has been cancelled due to “unforseen circumstances”, with the Scottish side suffering from a number of injuries.
Manager Neil Warnock said: “Obviously we’re disappointed that the fixture won’t be taking place as we were looking forward to the test.
“Unfortunately, Greenock have been struggling with injuries and I didn’t want us to go there and face anything less than what we’d consider as being a strong first-team eleven.
“We’ll continue our preseason preparation with Saturday’s game at Burton Albion, and then I’m in the process of arranging a training game behind closed doors next week for some of the lads to get more minutes under their belt.
“We’ll then host Real Betis a week on Saturday which will give us exactly the sort of run-out we’ll need before kicking off the season against Bournemouth the following weekend.”
CENTRAL MIDFIELD IS A PRESSING PRIORITY
IF Cardiff fans are honest with themselves, they would admit that – of any area last season – central midfield and a lack of control in that area was an Achilles heel at times.
And now the Bluebirds find themselves on the cusp of a campaign in the top flight with the same players as last term in those positions – minus two key men.
Craig Bryson has returned to play his football at Derby County and the struggle to re-sign Marko Grujic from Liverpool continues.
Warnock struggled to hide his frustration that he’d not yet been able to add to his midfield armoury.
As impressive as Joe Ralls has looked in pre-season, new signings are needed. And quick. It may be that Grujic alone isn’t enough, as Warnock himself suggested after the game. Cardiff find must a midfield general capable of dominating that area of the pitch.
WAITE DOES WELL, GUNNARSSON NEEDS TIME
JAMES Waite, the diminutive starlet from Cardiff’s Under-23s side, was a surprise starter at Rotherham, such were the lack of options at Warnock’s disposal.
And the youngster didn’t disgrace himself at all, actually looking very tidy for a 45-minute cameo.
He combined neatly with Bobby Reid in a move down the right flank that should have been capped by Kenneth Zohore at the back post following Reid’s fizzing cross.
But with Loic Damour not included in the squad and Aron Gunnarsson only playing his first 45 minutes after World Cup action, Cardiff basically have Ralls and that’s it at the moment. Callum Paterson doesn’t look as comfortable in a deeper midfield position, neither do Reid or Junior Hoilett who have briefly played there in pre-season.
What about Gunnarsson? Well the Ice Man was not at his sharpest at Rotherham and will need time before he’s able to play 90 minutes at his combative best. He looked frustrated with himself at times after a mislaid pass or two.
The positive for Cardiff is that with Gunnarsson and one or two new midfielders to come in, they can only improve in that area.
DON’T PANIC
PRESEASON games draw such contrasting reactions from fans.
For all those waxing lyrical about the quality of Cardiff’s attacking play in that 11-1 drubbing of Bodmin Town last week, there were those preaching caution.
History repeated itself seven days later, only in reverse. There are a minority who are worrying about Cardiff’s lack of fluency while others remain relaxed.
In truth, you can never set too much store by pre-season games, even a defeat like this as frustrating as it was.
A number of factors were at play: the midfield issue already discussed, the sharpness of Rotherham’s football and the hunger Paul Warne’s side displayed.
Those last two are to be expected given the Millers’ season opener is a week earlier than Cardiff’s.
Warnock’s unflustered reaction at the final whistle spoke volumes. Don’t panic.